Hi, very very new to solar panels, having recently bought a 15w Portapow to charge my phone etc whilst outdoors. This portable panel has a couple of USB ports and does a reasonable job. I also wanted to charge a walkie talkie which requires a 10v input, so I bought a step up convertor from one of the Chinese sellers and this seems to work OK too.
I was also wondering about using it to charge a car battery, mainly when we go camping (to top up from charging phones and stuff) and maybe as a trickle charger when the car isn't being used much.
Can anyone tell me if I would need a charge controller to do this properly? I can get 12v output with the step up convertor, but guess there are potential losses in running a charge through all of these boxes and 15w isn't a whole lot to charge a car battery with?
The solar panel has a built in voltage regulator, and the circuit/diode to prevent it discharging devices when there's no light, and there's a little meter that comes with it that tells you how many amps/watts it's using.
thanks in advance and apologies if it's posted in the wrong place (or any other etiquette!)
Paul
I was also wondering about using it to charge a car battery, mainly when we go camping (to top up from charging phones and stuff) and maybe as a trickle charger when the car isn't being used much.
Can anyone tell me if I would need a charge controller to do this properly? I can get 12v output with the step up convertor, but guess there are potential losses in running a charge through all of these boxes and 15w isn't a whole lot to charge a car battery with?
The solar panel has a built in voltage regulator, and the circuit/diode to prevent it discharging devices when there's no light, and there's a little meter that comes with it that tells you how many amps/watts it's using.
thanks in advance and apologies if it's posted in the wrong place (or any other etiquette!)
Paul
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